Tag: Bellator 123

I know it’s only Monday morning, but are you guys ready to have your f*cking minds blown?!! Because it turns out that, contrary to the opinions of almost everyone who witnessed it live, the super awesome Stephan Bonnar-Tito Ortiz brawl at Bellator 123 *might* have been pre-planned. I know, right? So sayeth Bonnar himself:

Listen @Lowkey1324, @titoortiz is a self absorbed ego maniac.The world needed 2 know.Tito, Coker, @BellatorMMA & @SpikeTV, didn’t know shit! It was all me & @JustinMcCully. If u wanna hate us 4 pulling a pro wrestling esque promo off while calling tito out on the BS he’s pulled on people over the years..Then by all means, go buy yourself some punishment gear, a front row ticket, and be sure to bring a rain coat, cuz things r gonna get bloody.

Well I don’t know about you guys, but I am shocked. Shocked I tells ya!! I could have sworn that cornrows rapist mask executioner mask guy was legitimately just there for moral support, and that Bonnar’s hi-larious Jenna Jameson jokes were ripped from the top of his dome, but now I feel cheated. Embarassed for the sport, even. So I say shame on you, Stephan Bonnar, for toying with our emotions so carelessly during an otherwise pleasant evening of fights. I can’t even look at you anymore, and it’s not just because you’re making that face again.

But I’m sure we’re all still wondering, whose idea was the f*cking rape mask? Well…

The first leg of tonight’s #FridayNightWars MMA double-header kicks off with the Bellator 123: Curran vs. Pitbull 2 main card, live from Uncasville, CT, at 8 p.m. ET on Spike. We’re saving up our liveblog energy for UFC Fight Night 50 later this evening, but follow us after the jump for quick results from the Bellator card, as well as GIFs of all relevant knockouts and submissions. As always, follow us on twitter at @cagepotatomma for live commentary and ball-busting.

This is great news for die-hard MMA fans, considering that the Bellator 123: Curran vs. Pitbull 2 main card — which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on Spike TV, also this Friday — will be wrapping up right around then. So why would FOX Sports make this change on three days’ notice? There’s only one explanation: They didn’t want the first hour of their main card to be blown out by Bellator’s headliners. That’s right, the UFC has conceded the #FridayNightWars scheduling battle to Scott Coker, who is most likely grabbing his nuts right now.

Keep in mind that the entire UFC Fight Night 50 preliminary card will be aired on FOX Sports 1, starting at 7 p.m. ET. And if that broadcast does a weaker number than the Bellator show on Spike, who cares? Prelims aren’t supposed to draw a big number, right? What FOX Sports and the UFC are doing is making sure to avoid any unfavorable comparisons during the meat of their broadcasts; they don’t want the 9-10 p.m. slot on FS1 to be a ghost town because everybody’s down the dial watching a potential dogfight between Pat Curran and Pitbull Freire.

Unless you’ve been trapped in your basement savoring celebrity nudes for the past few days, you can’t ignore the UFC vs. Bellator showdown this Friday night. Both MMA organizations are going head-to-head, and to make the pot even sweeter, both events take place in the not-so-glorious state of Connecticut.

Are Dana White and Scott Coker both there to lobby for MMA regulation in nearby New York, or petition for the return of the Hartford Whalers? No.

Not since Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson’s match of “Who Can Run Faster, You or Me” has the sporting world been on the edge of their seats for something of this magnitude. But first, a brief rundown of what’s been happening in each promotion.

Let’s begin with Bellator, the little-brother league that used to hold tournaments not only for its fighters to earn title shots, but also to give champions 14-month periods of rest between fights. Viacom, the mega broadcast company that currently pulls the strings, recently axed Bjorn Rebney from his presidential post for being a “dickrider,” and brought former Strikeforce mastermind Scott Coker into the fold to run this promotion before it runs itself into the ground. I mean, who else brought you the demise of Fedor Emilianenko, premiere women’s MMA battles, Frank Shamrock getting his arms broken by kicks, a post-fight brawl involving Californian gangs, and Gus “Call of the Century” Johnson?

So here we are on the eve of UFC Fight Night 50 (which really feels like 250) and Bellator 123 (which feels like 123, considering we have no idea what happened from 1 to 81). You have to pick one, and this writer is going to pretend that dual television sets, DVR, or sketchy Internet streams don’t exist. Which one is it going to be?

Truly great fighter nicknames are hard to come by in MMA. If they aren’t blatant attempts to sound intimidating using some well-worn cliche like “The Assassin” or “The Hitman”, they’re alliteration or pun-focused atrocities like “The Muscle Shark” Sherk or “Twinkle Toes” Trigg. I swear to God, if one more fighter calls themselves “The Pitbull”, I am going to walk into the nearest MMA gym with a fully loaded AK-47 and just start spraying bullets.

If Aldo can’t stay healthy and is too fragile to go through a training camp, then I think it is time to step aside and let guys who are able to do that and able to push through all that stuff, to be a champ.

Maybe I have so many injuries because I’m not taking the same ‘supplements’ you take. I have injuries because I train a lot to beat you like I did last time, and I think you remember that and still have nightmares about it. I did all the medical exams I had to do, but if you’re a doctor now, I can send them so you can take a look. Maybe you can prescript one of your supplements so I can heal faster.

The one who gets beat up usually runs away from another beating, but you can’t run forever because I’m going after you. Before the cage is closed you can say whatever you want, because once they close it you won’t be able to open your mouth, so keep talking while you have a mouth. And who are you to say where we are going to fight? I don’t think Dana White would be happy to see someone making his decisions.…You’re the one who seems to only fight at your home, who desperately doesn’t want to fight in Brazil. I got injured before and my fight with Frankie Edgar was moved from Brazil to Las Vegas. I fought your coach in your home, fought at Mark Hominick’s home in front of 55,000 fans, I fought in Japan and Europe. And now you tell me you want to be the champion? A champion doesn’t choose opponents or where the fight is going to be. And now I ask you, who’s the real pussy?

The UFC will be heading to Connecticut on September 5th. The card will air on FS1. Normally we wouldn’t cover such a banal, uninteresting announcement, but something makes it very special: September 5th also marks the date of Bellator’s season 11 debut, and it’s also being held in Connecticut to boot—a mere 10 miles away.

To say this is a big deal is an understatement. Perhaps Bellator’s rumored 100k PPV buys for Bellator 120 turned the UFC’s head, and now they view the promotion as a threat? And what about ratings? Will Bellator and SpikeTV be able to out-draw the UFC and FOX Sports 1?